Part 1 | Part 2 Festival International de Jazz de Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince, Haiti March 4-11, 2017 Haiti: the only nation in the world established as the result of a slave revolt; home of Vodou. Haiti: poorest country in the Western Hemisphere; subject to devastating hurricanes and earthquakes. Most potential visitors to Haiti are likely to focus on the second view of the country, especially after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake which caused massive building collapse ...

Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Esperanza Fernández Herbst Theater Bay Area Flamenco Festival 2016 San Francisco, CA March 9, 2016 They met for the first time in Spain. One a Cuban-born jazz pianist, the other a Flamenco singer. Both were internationally acclaimed performers. They came together as part of the documentary film project Playing Lecuona --which celebrates the life of the great Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona--and then parted ways. The pianist, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, later ...

Whenever a musician strikes out on their own by forming their own label they're addressing the issue of control and consolidation. Pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba went one better when he created 5passion. He consolidated, took control, and diversified his offerings. First came Fe (5passion, 2011)--a sanctified solo piano date that All About Jazz's Dan McClenaghan rightly called an eighty-minute jazz prayer." XXI Century (5passion, 2012)--a trio-plus-guests date--followed, providing an expansive look at the places where rock, funk, Cuban traditions, and African ...

If Gonzalo Rubalcaba were a major league pitcher, he would be a seasoned veteran with the knowledge that to be effective he would have to be the master of multiple pitches. Gone are his rookie days when he could throw nothing but fastballs to get outs.Same for Gonzalo Rubalcaba, jazz pianist. Twenty-five years ago he wowed audiences with his powerful attack and blinding speed. As his sound has matured, he has begun communicating with more subtlety, throwing audiences ...

Cuban-born/Miami-based pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba boasts a discography of some 25 albums, including a dozen discs for the esteemed Blue Note label. Having established star status for himself with numerous Grammy nominations and two wins, Rubalcaba steps out with the first release on his independent 5Passion label, Fe...Faith.Over the course of his career, Rubalcaba has worked with some of the best modern jazz players, including Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, but introduces his new record company ...

It's been ten years since pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba teamed up with Charlie Haden on Nocturne (Universal, 2001). Then a twenty-something Cuban virtuoso, Rubalcaba already had a decade of recordings behind him and was being compared to Keith Jarrett and Cecil Taylor. Now a Florida resident and with his own newly minted label, 5Passion, Rubalcaba releases Fé ... Faith, a solo collection and his finest work to date. Rubalcaba's playing style has typically been energetic and fiery and while ...

Supergroups thrown together for jazz festivals are, as a general rule, a disappointment. The chemistry of a regular working unit is usually missing, and they tend to resort to theme-solo-theme" weariness. Not so when the supergroup is made up of dedicated composers and listeners such as The Monterey Quartet, assembled on the occasion of Monterey's 50th anniversary celebration concerts in 2007.

Bassist Dave Holland, together with two familiar players--Chris Potter and Eric Harland--are joined by the Cuban pianist ...

A bonus of festival work is the opportunity to recruit musicians for new collaborations. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does, and when Monterey Jazz Festival Records' General Manager Jason Olaine worked with Vision Arts manager Louise Holland to bring together bass icon Dave Holland, saxophonist Chris Potter, drummer Eric Harland and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, it seemed like a match made in heaven.

It was. The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival, ...

The Monterey Jazz Festival has an ongoing rich history of great performances: Louis Armstrong (1958), Miles Davis (1963), Tito Puente & His Orchestra (1977), Shirley Horn (1994) and many others. MJF's 50th anniversary celebration in 2007 continued that honored tradition of swing, resulting in Terence Blanchard's Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo with his performance on Dizzy Gillespie's classic Be-Bop" by the MJF 50th Anniversary All-Stars. At that same festival, another group of all-stars--the quartet extraordinare featuring bassist Dave ...

I was first exposed to jazz when I discovered that one of Jimi Hendrix's influences was Wes Montgomery. I played guitar growing up and idolized Hendrix, so I knew that anyone he looked up to must be good

I was first exposed to jazz when I discovered that one of Jimi Hendrix's influences was Wes Montgomery. I played guitar growing up and idolized Hendrix, so I knew that anyone he looked up to must be good. I was 16 at the time. I went to Tower Records and purchased a CD by Wes, and I was hooked from the very first ten seconds. The sound of the song Lolita illuminated my bedroom, as I just sat back amazed at how colorful and soulful this music was--I understood it, even though at the time I didn't understand how to go about playing it. I get chills listening to Wes' solo on Lolita, and I can still listen to that song ten times in a row and never get tired of it. There is a truly timeless quality to genuinely spontaneous jazz music, and it is that quality that has inspired me to devote my life to studying and playing this music.